Bleach 1. 1: Prologue

_Summary: Her world destroyed and friends killed, she should've died. But by a cruel twist of fate, a demon pulls her back from the brink of death. The question now is whether she is saved or damned. AU._

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This is my first fanfiction ever and English isn't my first language. I don't know if anyone will read this, but if you notice a mistake, please inform me of such so that I can improve my English. Thank you.**

**Alternative Universe: The arrancars are demons, superhuman beings. The shinigami are, ironically, humans. That's the gist of this world. The setting is in ancient Japanese times, I suppose.**

**Thank you for reading.  
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A thin, pale demon stretched his body out after being out of action for so long. His long fingers stroked through his hair in attempt to get the black locks out of his line of vision. Two long teal lines were drawn down from his face as if he were crying, but everyone who knew him, knew that he never showed any emotion. His green eyes were full of despair and a broken helmet composed of bone sat on the left side of his head, as if showing that he was a warrior.

"Ulquiorra", a brown-haired man called to him. It was Sosuke Aizen, the King of Demons, although he was no demon himself. The demons obeyed him because he had power that was beyond most humans.

"Yes, Aizen-sama?"

"Check down below."

"Yes, Aizen-sama."

Ulquiorra, the fourth strongest demon in ranking, flew down to the rubble below of what remained of the destroyed city. It had pleased Aizen-sama that his demons had destroyed his former hometown. They had completely obliterated the city yesterday, but there was a chance that some had survived. There were bodies strewn about with guts and blood splayed on the cracked pavement and splintered wood. The pale demon closed his eyes slowly, listening for a heartbeat anywhere. In a quick flash, he disappeared and reappeared in front of a dying purple-haired man.

"Are you still alive?" Ulquiorra looked down at the man with a level look.

"What are you?" The purple-haired man reached out towards the demon slowly. His hand was covered in his own blood and as he reached, his hand started to tremble.

"A demon", he replied as he twisted the man's head to the side roughly. The man lay still, never to rise again, his arm still outstretched. Ulquiorra closed his eyes again listening for any other heartbeats. The ruined city seemed to be devoid of life. But suddenly, he sensed a faint heartbeat far away at the edges of the city.

Two bursts of speed later, the pale demon found the barely alive person. It was a short and slender female who was unconscious. The demon began to reach down to kill her, but he suddenly stopped.

The scent of her blood was...different...from any blood he had split before. Was she a lesser demon? He flipped her onto her back examining her face. Ulquiorra took his long, pale hand and examined her equally pale hand. She didn't have the mark of a demon, so she was undoubtedly human.

Suddenly, the demon reached out with two long digits and dipped them into her blood. As he lifted the bloodstained fingers towards his face, he flicked out his tongue cautiously, just tasting the blood. It was metallic in taste, as blood always was, but it was different. He couldn't explain it.

"Ulquiorra?"

The pale demon turned around in surprise, no one had been able to sneak up on him before, especially not someone as large as Yammy. The giant demon, Yammy, repeated his name, "Ulquiorra?"

"What is it?"

"What's taking so long? Aizen is getting impatient."

"She's still alive", the pale demon said gesturing towards the girl on the ground.

Yammy yawned, "Kill her then."

He hesitated for a moment, not knowing why.

"Just kill her, Ulquiorra."

Ulquiorra leaned down and on an instinctive urge, he picked the barely breathing girl up and began to unfold his wings.

"What are you doing?" Yammy asked, his curiousity piqued as Ulquiorra did something he had never done before. The pale demon never showed emotion or attachment. This was new.

"Hey, are you listening to me?"

As he flew up towards Aizen-sama with the girl in his arms, the thin, pale demon answered, "No, I'm not."

* * *

The group of demons returned to their palace, Las Noches, with trails of blood showing the path that they took.

"Ulquiorra", Aizen spoke quietly. "Why have you brought this girl back with you?"

"I wish to keep her."

"And we all thought you were asexual", Nnoitra, a tall lanky demon, laughed crudely.

"Not like that", Ulquiorra said, "I just want to see her pain."

"You would get off on something like that", Nnoitra answered with a leering smile. Ulquiorra turned his head slowly towards Nnoitra with his impassive gaze. The look struck fear in the hearts of all those wise enough to fear pain and death. But Nnoitra simply smiled.

Aizen merely raised a hand to stop any fight that may have started, "That's fine, Ulquiorra, you can keep her. It doesn't really matter, she's only human."

"Thank you, Aizen-sama."

* * *

Three days later, the humans that worked in the Las Noches hospital informed Ulquiorra that the girl had awoken. The pale demon strode slowly to the hospital room where she was being kept. He didn't know what had possessed him to rescue her from the brink of death, but it probably had something to do with her blood.

"I see you're awake", Ulquiorra spoke quietly to the girl on the bed. He hadn't gotten a good look at her until now. She was skinnier than him, if that was at all possible, with pale skin and medium length dark hair. Bandages were wrapped around her head and shoulder. But what really surprised him was her sharp purple eyes.

"What are you?" Instinctively, the human girl drew away from him with a vague hint of fear in her eyes. Ulquiorra looked at her, wondering if he had had a moment of foolishness when he decided to keep her alive. There was still time to kill her now. A blink of an eye later and she could be dead.

"A demon", he replied, waiting for the signature reaction to that statement. The girl blinked once and her eyes widened with disgust, fear and hatred.

"Were you one of the demons that destroyed Sereitei?" Her sharp eyes turned on him with anguish and hate.

"I helped destroy it", Ulquiorra answered slowly, a little surprised to see that she was not entirely afraid of him.

The girl's hand clenched tightly into a fist, "Why am I still alive?"

"Because I brought you here", the demon answered stoically, reminding her of someone else.

"Why did you do that?" The girl's voice had lowered to a dangerous tone, but Ulquiorra knew that she was as powerless as the rest of the human race.

"Because I wanted to."

SLAP!

Ulquiorra's expression didn't change even as his head had been turned the other way. He could feel the warmth of the imprint her hand had left on his cheek.

"You demons play God in the matters of living and dying as if we were toys!" The girl was screaming at him now. "You all don't care!!!"

She reached out to slap again, but this time, he caught her arm in a painful grip. The girl cried out as he almost crushed her bones. With his other hand, he reached up and took out his left eyeball. Eyes widening, the girl started to scream in true panic. He crushed the eyeball in his hand showing the memories of the destruction of Sereitei.

The girl thrashed around trying to get away from the memories, but his grip on her arm was tight. She was forced to relive every scream, every death, every drop of blood that he remembered. Her purple eyes were contracting in fear now. She watched as her fellow humans and friends were killed brutally under his sword and claws. She screamed out her friend's and family's names. Finally it ended, with an image of her lying seemingly lifeless on the ground. The girl screamed and screamed even as he let go of her arm.

"We play God because we have the power too", Ulquiorra's voice rang out.

The girl shirked away from him looking at him now as if she were looking at a monster and she wasn't far off from the truth. The apathetic demon placed a hand on her bony shoulder, looked her straight in the eyes, and asked, "Do you understand?"

Then he left the room, leaving her shaking in fear behind.

A tall grey-haired nurse came bustling over to her with bandages and medicine.

"Oh poor thing", she whimpered to the thin girl lying on the bed. "Do you have a name?"

The girl quaked violently and whispered, "Kuchiki Rukia."

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Again, thank you for reading. I plan on making this a multi-chapter story, but it is really to test my skills. If you find this interesting please leave a review.**


	2. 2: Heart of Pain

**Er, wow. I give my thanks to antonia.c, AngelofBeauty88, yume girl 91, Mudheart, Shizuka Eien, Mestophilies, Lame vs Cool, and Karel Ritza for reviewing/favoriting/alerting my story. I just want to make a note: This story is probably going to be pretty dark and eventually rated M, so if you don't like that sort of stuff, that's my warning. Again thank you for reading.**

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Bold - Author Note**

_Italic - Thoughts_

Regular - Regular

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It took a full week to heal her physically wounds, but mentally, the images of destruction that Ulquiorra showed her, still scarred horribly. She didn't know what the demon wanted with her, but with demons there was usually only one thing.

Rukia had only seen the demon that once, but she was frightened by just the mention of him. Throughout the whole encounter the demon had never changed his expression and she had a feeling that if he were to ever kill her, his face would remain stoic. It sort of reminded her of her family, the Kuchiki Clan, one of the higher noble clans. But they were probably all dead by now.

"Kuchiki-san", Isane Kotetsu, the nurse who had taken care of her for over a week, called out.

"Hai?" Rukia wasn't eager to get out of the hospital since it meant spending more time with that green-eyed monster.

Isane hugged her and whispered, "I...just want to say that everything will be fine."

"I'm a demon's prisoner now", Rukia spoke sadly, "That isn't my definition of, 'fine'."

"Ulquiorra isn't like most demons", Isane whispered, looking around to see that no one was watching, "He's not interested in that sort of stuff. But he does like blood and death. Be careful, just don't anger him."

"I'll try", Rukia whispered back, trying to feel optimistic about her situation. What was there to feel optimistic about? The fact that her friends and family had been brutally murdered? The fact that she was now a prisoner? The fact that the demon that "owned" her was probably going to kill her too?

* * *

Ulquiorra had sent a young servant girl over to the hospital to pick Rukia up. As the two girls walked down the halls of the enormous palace, Rukia realized how big of a situation she was in. That demon with the pale skin and green eyes wasn't just any demon, he was probably an Espada, one of ten top ranked demons in Aizen's army. She could recall memories of her brother and friend talking about them. This was worse than expected. Did the gods truly hate her?

_"We play God because we have the power too."_

Maybe they did hate her.

* * *

Kuchiki Rukia walked into the Fourth Espada's wing of the palace with caution and awe. The entire wing was at least two times the size of the Kuchiki Mansion. She had expected the demons to live in a dark and gloomy place, but this was like the definition of hell. The whole wing was painted black, there were no windows anywhere and in all it was a well-furnished dungeon.

"Trash", a voice spoke from the darkness.

Rukia spun around in surprise to see the monster sitting down in a large chair. She immediately turned and ran from the room in fear. As she rounded the corner, she could even hear her heart beating faster and faster.

"Stop", a hiss came out of his mouth. The demon had appeared out of thin air, it seemed to be, right in front of her. He held out his hand in a claw shape as if ripping out her soul.

"S-stay away", Rukia tried to sound brave, but he was making it very hard.

"I saved your life", the demon spoke slowly as if reminding himself of that very fact as well.

With trembling limbs she whispered, "I didn't want to live."

After a moments silence that felt like a hundred years to her, he answered, "What's done is done. At least make yourself useful around here."

"You're...not going to kill me?" Rukia was so surprised she spoke her thoughts aloud. Right after the words left her lips she cursed herself for saying it. What if he liked the idea?

"Little girl", his voice dispassionate, "You're not even worth killing."

Then he turned on his heel and left the room, knowing his way quite well. As soon as his thin figure was out of view, the young girl that had escorted her to the monster's wing scurried in.

"Excuse me, Miss, your room is this way", she whispered quietly as if afraid of disturbing anything with her voice. Oddly enough, her voice was hoarse as if she didn't speak often. On closer inspection, the girl wasn't much younger than herself, Rukia realized in shock. The way the girl spoke reminded her of the servants back in the Kuchiki Mansion.

"Don't call me that", Rukia spoke softly, reaching out to the girl, "Are you also a prisoner?"

"No", the girl spoke quietly, a little surprised, "I'm a slave here."

"Do you have a name?" Rukia became curious at the thought that a prisoner was above a slave.

"I u-used to be called", the girl looked up through her dirty blonde hair, "Kiyone."

"That's a pretty name", Rukia said softly. "My name is Kuchiki Rukia."

"Rotting wood?"

"A funny last name, isn't it?" Her purple eyes sparkled with a little happiness. How long had it been seen someone had spoken to her like this?

"Yes", Kiyone answered with a small smile, "But now I must show you to your room."

Kiyone navigated through the halls with expert skill and halfway through, Rukia was already incredibly lost. When they finally arrived at a large wooden door, Rukia half-expected to see more winding halls and dimly lit corridors.

To her surprise, it was her room behind the huge doors. When she opened the doors, her breath caught in her throat. The room itself was massive in size, with the uniform black walls and flickering candles, but it was the sheer enormity that the demon would allow her to sleep in a room this nice. The furniture wasn't particularly expensive looking or anything, it was rather simple, but the simplicity was perfect. The bed was king-sized at the very least with blood red sheets and pillows.

Kiyone must have sensed her surprise for she suddenly said, "This is actually one of the lesser rooms that Ulquiorra-sama has."

"Lesser?" Rukia's voice sounded a little too high-pitched to be her own. If this was lesser, she couldn't imagine what the demon's own bedroom would look like.

Kiyone must have known what she was thinking for she whispered, "Ulquiorra-sama's own room is at least three times this size with two beds and lots of furniture, but he usually is found inside his study if he is at home."

"What do you mean?" Rukia decided that if she wanted to stay here, she might as well interrogate Kiyone for more information. Know thy enemy.

"Ulquiorra-sama doesn't sleep", Kiyone drew closer and her voice dropped so low that Rukia barely caught the words.

"Why is that?"

"He just doesn't", Kiyone answered, then drew up with her grey eyes drooping in fear of saying too much.

* * *

The next morning after having an entire night of sleep, despite her new surroundings, Rukia dragged herself out of bed and began to wander through the hallways in just a nightdress. Was she supposed to go somewhere? Kiyone hadn't known what she was supposed to do the whole day anyway. Her stomach rumbled a little. It had been awhile since she had eaten anything.

As the slim girl walked through the corridors, she tried to remember the way she had come. It was useless and within a matter of minutes, she wasn't even sure where her room was. Maybe she would starve to death just wandering around the huge wing and one day the demon would see her skeleton and wonder who she was.

"No", Rukia spoke aloud, "I'm not going to die here!"

"You will if you keep up the racket", a strangely familiar voice replied to her. She whirled around to see the demon closing a door behind him and stepping into the hallway.

Despite her fear of him, she could not help but retort, "Are you a fucking stalker or something?"

The instant she said it, she knew she had crossed the boundaries. To her immense surprise, the demon did not show any violent tendencies and replied, "This is my house and that is my room. I'm not stalking you."

"Sorry", Rukia whispered and as her anger ebbed away, the fear hit her hard. The purple-eyed girl began to back away, knowing she had nowhere to run, but trying to think of a means to escape.

"Servant Girl", the demon spoke quietly as if addressing her.

"Er, is that-" Rukia hesitantly began to ask him, but suddenly the hallway filled with smoke. From out of the smoke stepped a short blonde-haired person.

"Hai, Ulquiorra-sama?" It was Kiyone. Rukia was so astonished that her jaw hung open as she watched the two of them converse.

"Didn't I tell you to never talk within 50 feet of me?" The monster's tone was harsh and forbidding.

Kiyone bobbed her head up and down in agreement. She bowed low and waited for the demon to give her orders. But Ulquiorra leaned down and grabbed the front of her ragged clothes. He pulled her up and off the ground quite easily. Luckily, Kiyone was only half a foot shorter than him and so her lift off the ground wasn't too terrifying.

"Next time you speak to me will be your last", the demon said with his expression even as always. Not knowing what to do, Rukia simply did the first thing that came to mind.

"You fucking piece of trash", Rukia shouted, "K-kotetsu-sama shouldn't be touched!"

The demon's eyes widened a little as he turned his head slowly to face her and he asked, "What did you call this girl?"

"Kotetsu-sama", Rukia repeated, hoping that the demon wouldn't remember the nurse, Isane, at all. It was the first last name that came to mind. "I used to serve her when we were in Seireitei."

The demon blinked once, twice and then lowered the shaking girl onto the ground. Then with inhuman speed, he rushed at Rukia and pulled her along the hallways in an iron grip. The instant his cold hand gripped the front of her nightdress, her nobility instincts kicked in.

"Let go of me, you bastard!" She yelled while trying to pry his fingers off, but to no avail.

He dragged both of them into a nearby room that she assumed was a living room. Then with his ever passive face and voice he said, "Little girl, do you know who I am?"

"You're a fucking demon!" Rukia tried to calm herself down, but she didn't know what she was supposed to be living for now. Was living all in vain? She could feel her anger radiating off of her.

"If you really want to die so much, then I will gladly fulfill your wish", the demon hissed with no change of expression. He gripped her neck in his vice grip, choking her to death very slowly. Rukia closed her eyes feeling his cold touch against her neck and wondering how long she would have to suffer before she would die. Maybe, dying wasn't such a bad thing after all. The demon lifted her slowly off the ground as he had to Kiyone, but this time he seemed dead serious on killing her.

Black dots swarmed her vision as she hazily began to lose consciousness. Suddenly she felt the pressure released and a jarring impact on her legs. Opening her eyes dizzily, Rukia found herself lying on the ground, gripping her own neck, with the demon standing high above her with that same apathetic look.

"I said it before", he whispered, "You're not even worth killing, but the day that I decide you're too much of a pain, I will kill you."

"Just kill me, monster!"

The demon looked back in surprise, "You really want to die that much?"

"Yes", Rukia answered, her violet eyes shining with this last shred of hope. He reached out and touched her chest, his fingers brushing against her breast. Rukia's eyes widened, was he going to do what she thought he was going to?

"Where do you feel the pain, little girl?" His voice was lower now and his green eyes seemed to darken with bloodlust. "Here? Is the pain in your heart?"

Rukia nodded her head fervently, secretly glad, and secretly hoping he would just kill her now while she still wanted to die.

"Is the pain inside that filthy organ so much that you can't handle life?" The demon seemed to be speaking more to himself than to her.

"What is your pain like?"

"Uh..." How was she supposed to answer a question like that?

"You say you want to die, but you don't mean it. Not yet." Bored, green eyes met slightly fearful and confused violet ones.

...

"Ulquiorra!" A new, loud and blunt voice cut into their half-conversation. The green-eyes demon stood up abruptly at the sound of the voice.

"Fuck, Ulquiorra, I know you're around here somewhere. Your little slave girl told me you were around this corridor!"

If possible, the demon looked like he always did, but seemed irritated. He stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him. As he closed the door firmly, his eyes were still fixed on Rukia's violet ones. Rukia faintly heard the conversation outside.

"Grimmjow, please refrain from yelling in here or is that beyond your mental capacity?" The demon's voice was quiet and controlled.

In contrast, the other person, or perhaps it was a demon, had a wild and reckless voice, "Shut-up, you fuck-face."

Rukia supposed she couldn't call them both, "demon", without mixing it up in her head. But then again, acknowleding that they had names would be acknowledging that they were civilized, something they were definitely not. Helmet-head would do for the green-eyed, stoic demon and the other one would just be demon, until she could see him.

"What is it, Grimmjow?" Helmet-head's voice seemed to be slightly strained, as if he was restraining himself from assaulting the other demon. For some reason, Rukia found the situation a little funny. She was still a little dazed from her choking episode with Helmet-head.

"Aizen wants to see you", the other demon spoke again, this time a little more quiet than before.

"Very well", Helmet-head replied. The sound of footsteps died away and only then did Rukia open the door of the living room and step out.

* * *

Rukia had nothing to do the whole day, but she no longer wanted to die. It was a little odd that her mood would swing that fast. Perhaps, she thought, some of my family and friends are still alive. The thought, although it sounded ridiculous even to her, renewed her strength and will to live. Oddly enough, the whole day went by quite quickly, as she found Kiyone and the two of them ate a little and went around the wing of Las Noches adventuring and avoiding Helmet-head.

By the time night came, Rukia was thoroughly exhausted, but happier than before. The demons probably knew that this palace of their's was depressing, but she'd prove them wrong by being happy. She never was one to follow the rules of life.

* * *

Ulquiorra walked back to his wing of the palace after the meeting with only one thing on his mind. That girl with the violet eyes. He hadn't been able to concentrate during the whole meeting and had embarrassed himself twice in front of Aizen-sama. That girl with the violet eyes. There was pain in her eyes when she had begged for him to kill her. What was it like to feel pain that deep?

The entire wing of his was pitch-black with all the candles blown out, but he knew his way by memory. As he approached his studyroom, he suddenly felt some sort of excitement overtake him. His legs began to move seemingly of their own accord. Before he knew what was happening, his legs were taking him down the hallway further and further towards a different room. The girl's room.

Ulquiorra never slept. Being a demon he didn't need too much sleep anyway, but all living beings need to rest at one time or another. Ulquiorra never rested. The only time he could sleep was when he was on the brink of death, almost touching the gates of Hell. Otherwise, he couldn't sleep. He was physically incapable of sleeping. But now, as his legs carried him towards the new girl's room, he wished he was asleep.

A pale hand tentatively reached out of pushed open her door. The hinges were well oiled and didn't creak. To avoid detection, he walked into the room as slowly as he could. One step took a hundred years, but eventually he was by the side of the resting girl.

Her nightdress was thin and messily sprawled around her. He could see the pale smooth skin of her back and the scabs on her shoulder from the destruction of Seireitei. He could smell her blood and hear her heart beat slowly in the silence of the night.

"You have so much pain", Ulquiorra murmured to himself. When he had touched her heart earlier in the day, he had felt strangely warm. Just like the first time he had seen her, he felt an indescribable feeling. Usually the only thing he ever could really feel was physical pain. But now, standing next to this girl, he felt an overwhelming hate. Why was she making him feel this way?

_I'll kill her_. Ulquiorra started to draw back his hand, readying to stab her through her heart, but suddenly she shifted in her sleep. If she had woken up, Ulquiorra would've killed her for sure.

"S-stay away", her voice trembled quietly. The pale demon wondered if she was truly awake and could see him in the darkness.

"U-ulquiorra", she stammered. The thin, pale demon drew back, wondering what this meant. She was definitely asleep and she had never uttered his name before. Was she dreaming of him? Was she running away from him even in her sleep? It gave him a sick sort of pleasure that she couldn't escape him even while sleeping, just as he couldn't escape her even when Aizen-sama was talking.

"I'm going to break you down until you beg for a swift death", Ulquiorra whispered to the sleeping girl. "And when you finally mean it, I will enjoy killing you."

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Thank you for reading. Please leave a review.**


	3. 3: Bloody Touch

**Thank you again to everyone who reviewed/favorited/alerted! Warning: Dark and sort of twisted. Rating bumped to M, though it's kind of on the border. Thanks.**

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The next morning, as Rukia woke, she found the door of her room wide open. It was odd for she distinctly remembered shutting and locking it tightly. Only one person, or more correctly, demon, would have the power to unlock her door. She briefly wondered why he had done it and what he had done. It was no serious matter, since if he had wanted her dead, she probably would not have woken up that morning.

"Kuchiki-san?"

"Hai?"

"I brought your breakfast here", Kiyone entered slowly with a shy smile on her face. "Thank you very much for yesterday!"

"It's fine, Kiyone", Rukia smiled. "What do you say to adventuring again, today?"

"I don't know", Kiyone said, brushing her short blond hair to the side. "Ulquiorra-sama wouldn't be happy about that. But if you'd like, you can take a bath today. I finally found some extra towels."

"That's a great idea", Rukia said, realizing that she hadn't taken a bath since she'd left the hospital. "Thanks Kiyone."

"It's nothing compared to what you have done for me", the blond haired girl bowed and escorted Rukia out of the room with her breakfast.

* * *

As Rukia settled into the warm water contained in a regular bathtub, she sighed. There was a scent in the bathroom. It reminded her of her own large bathroom in the Kuchiki Mansion.

_You must stop thinking like that, Rukia!_ She chided herself and strove to forget. _Remembering those things will only bring pain. Nii-sama always said that one should not dwell on the past because we cannot change what has already happened and instead one should look towards the future, since that can be changed._

"Nii-sama", Rukia whispered, remembering her stoic brother, who was cold yet oddly caring. He had never fully looked her in the eye, but every time he walked away, she could sense some sadness radiating from him.

She took the bath in silence, trying to think of something else. Even thinking of Helmet-head would be better than thinking of Nii-sama.

* * *

Ulquiorra lazily walked through the halls trying to recall where it was he was heading to. The stupid servant girl that was apparently of nobility, had tried to tell him, without actually speaking, where his visitor was. It had been too confusing, so Ulquiorra was trying to sense for a large or compressed energy somewhere. Demons had a special sort of spiritual pressure and humans with large ones were easily detected.

He sensed a very faint trace of spiritual pressure coming from a nearby bathroom. It couldn't possibly be his visitor, so it had to be the girl. He headed towards the bathroom when he faintly smelled a metallic scent in the air.

* * *

Rukia had slipped while getting out of the bathtub and slammed her shoulder and back against a sharp edge. Even though the wound was located in a place where she couldn't really see, she could tell it was bleeding. First, the violet-eyed girl washed the blood off her backside and used her towel to wipe off the water and remaining blood. She pulled on a pair of loose fitting pants and then took a robe from a side drawer and began to tie the golden sash around her thin waist.

"Are you bleeding?"

Rukia turned around, the sash halfway wrapped around her body, towards the voice. It was Helmet-head. He had entered so quietly and quickly that she hadn't even noticed. The difference in their power was so immense it wasn't simply the difference of human and demon, but master and slave.

"Why do you ask?" Rukia danced around his question, taunting him subtly.

The pale demon walked closer towards her and said, "I can smell it."

"I slipped", Rukia didn't know why, but her voice came out defensive, as if she had done something wrong. He turned his head to the side suddenly and his eyes widened in alarm. With a flash he was gone, leaving an open-mouthed Rukia behind in the bathroom, and left towards where a steadily growing spiritual pressure was coming from.

"Was he worried about me?" Rukia could not help but wonder aloud.

* * *

"Grimmjow", Ulquiorra snapped angrily. "Lower your spiritual pressure right now!"

The electric blue-haired demon bared his teeth in a feral grin, "You were taking too long."

"What is it now?" It was very clear that the pale demon wasn't in the mood for anymore jokes, but Grimmjow wasn't one to settle for less than he could give.

"So, what were you doing that delayed your arrival?" Grimmjow leaned forward with his impossibly wide grin, enhanced even more by the bone fragments shaped as a jawbone set on his right jaw. His eyes trailed towards the doorway where a human girl had appeared. Ulquiorra didn't show any sign of acknowledging the human's appearance and so Grimmjow followed suit.

"Well, Ulquiorra?" The blue-haired demon raised his eyebrow as his matching light blue eyes danced in danger. Ulquiorra made no move to answer Grimmjow and instead sat down in a chair facing away from the doorway that the girl was standing in. She was still there, listening to them, watching them.

"He was worried about me", the girl said suddenly with a defiant edge to her tone. Grimmjow's head snapped automatically to her in surprise at the statement and at the fact that she had spoken at all. On the other hand, Ulquiorra maintained his stoic look and played around with the hilt of his sword.

Grimmjow smiled widely and laughed, "Is that so? I guess Ulquiorra really is getting soft!"

The pale demon's brow set downwards at a 30 degree angle as he hoisted himself out of the chair. Then he turned towards the girl slowly and deliberately. As Ulquiorra looked into her eyes, he saw nothing but determination.

"Grimmjow", Ulquiorra spoke quietly with his eyes still locked with the human girl's.

"What is it, you big puppy?"

"I suggest you state whatever it is you came here to state and leave immediately", Ulquiorra's tone left no room for argument.

The blue-haired demon gave a violent smirk and said, "I don't know, this looks pretty interesting."

Without any warning, Ulquiorra flashed over to where the other demon stood so quickly that even Grimmjow had trouble tracing his movement in time. The tip of Ulquiorra's blade was barely piercing Grimmjow's throat and a little trickle of blood ran down the length of his blade.

"Is it still interesting, Grimmjow?"

Staggering back a few steps, Grimmjow held a hand over the wound on his neck and answered, "I'm going to fucking destroy you, Ulquiorra."

"Not now", was the shocking reply.

Grimmjow narrowed his eyes dangerously, but then as he reached down towards the hilt of his own sword, he stopped abruptly. Then another demon flashed in, bowing down low towards the electric blue-haired demon and whispered something so quiet that Ulquiorra had trouble catching the words.

"Looks like your lucky day", Grimmjow spat on the ground and sneered, "Bastard."

With another quick breeze of wind, Grimmjow and the other demon had left.

Ulquiorra stood with his sword hanging loosely in his right hand, still watching the wall opposite the girl with unmatched intensity. Then very slowly, he pivoted all the way around to where the girl was still standing, her eyes blazing.

"Little girl, are you trying to provoke me?"

"No."

"Then I suggest that you keep your distance from me", Ulquiorra stood there with his eyes boring into hers. The girl brought up her hand to the collar of her robe and shifted nervously.

"Leave", the pale demon demanded, uncomfortable with the long silence.

The girl looked up at him oddly and said, "I don't get it."

"What?"

"Why are you concerned about me?"

Ulquiorra's eyes widened a little as he thought about her words. "Why do you think that I am...concerned...for you?"

"You asked about my well being", the girl answered without hesitation.

The pale demon nodded slowly and whispered, "I was not 'concerned', but merely wondering if you were about to escape with an easy death."

"Bastard", she hissed. Ulquiorra wasn't even fazed and left the room with his long and confident strides, barely brushing by the human girl.

* * *

Rukia watched Helmet-head's retreating figure, still confused about everything. Then she remembered that the wound on her back was still open and bleeding. She quickly ran to find Kiyone and after a quick search, she found Kiyone in the kitchens.

"Kiyone! I have a wound on my back, can you wrap it for me?" Rukia asked her loudly.

"Of course, Kuchiki-san", Kiyone answered, her head bobbing up and down. The two went into the nearby bathroom and Kiyone helped Rukia wrap a long strip of cloth around her body sideways multiple times. It was a little uncomfortable and so she used even more of the strip to make a makeshift bra so that it wasn't pressing down too tight at the edges. Kiyone was a little embarrassed at Rukia's half-nudity, but the violet-haired girl wasn't too fussy.

"Thanks Kiyone", Rukia smiled. "How has your day been?"

"The usual." Kiyone answered quietly with a sad expression on her face. Rukia noted that her voice sounded stronger than before.

"Oh."

"Kuchiki-san, how did you cut open your back?"

"Oh, I was stepping out of the bathtub and I was careless. I lost my footing and slipped. Somewhere in between my fall and landing, I grated my back against something sharp." Rukia recounted her accident in the bathroom.

"That's unfortunate."

"You got that right, Kiyone", Rukia laughed quietly.

A shadow began to move from the corner and it spoke, "So she isn't a noble after all."

"Huh?" Both Rukia and Kiyone twirled towards the intruder and very surprised to see Helmet-head standing in the doorway.

"You", the demon barked at Kiyone rudely. "Leave."

Kiyone scurried away and was gone in record time for a human girl. Rukia stood there clutching the end of the cloth wrapped around her body and feeling a little foolish.

"Little girl", Helmet-head's voice was harsher than it had been when he had spoken to Kiyone. "Don't lie to me again."

Rukia gripped the cloth tighter and her knuckles went white as the pale demon turned to leave again.

"It's not like you'd know the difference anyway", Rukia shot at his slowly departing form. This time she didn't regret the biting tone and rude words. The demon always had the apathetic expression on his face and while he made her angry as hell, it seemed she couldn't make him feel anything.

"What did you say?" His voice sounded a little incredulous, but his face betrayed nothing.

"Don't you ever feel any emotions!?!"

"Emotions", Helmet-head whispered quietly. "They are something that humans foolishly believe in."

"What do you mean?"

The demon turned his green eyes towards his own hand and said, "I cannot see these emotions, so they must not exist."

"Of course they exist!", Rukia yelled back in frustration and anger, with her hands fisted by her side.

"Where do they exist, little girl? In your heart? Can you see these emotions?" Helmet-head's words were softly spoken as if treading on dangerous grounds.

Rukia's knuckles were already impossibly white, but she continued to grip her pants as she yelled, "I can fucking feel it! That's how I know emotions exist!"

"Ridiculous."

SLAP!

That was the second time she had slapped him and if she had paid more attention to Nii-sama's fighting lessons, she would've attacked him. The unconcealed fury in her eyes jumped around with ease.

The demon's eyes were suddenly contracting and expanding rapidly at an alarming rate. Rukia backed away slowly as he started to have a seizure or something. Suddenly his pale hands were gripping her shoulder tightly in an almost painful way.

"What are you doing?!" Rukia struggled to pull away, but his clutch on her grew tighter as she struggled more. Her world spun around 180 degrees abruptly. The demon was behind her now, holding her shoulders and pushing her against the countertop. Rukia used her arms to brace against the counter so that she wasn't completely thrown over it.

Panic began to set in as she realized her compromising position against the demon, but the feelings grew more insistent when his fingernails started to claw off the blood soaked bandages around her form. The wound must've opened itself again when she had slapped him.

"Stop!!!" Rukia prayed that someone would hear and save her, but she knew that this was his domain, not hers. No one was going to save her. Hell, she had been saved, according to Helmet-head.

"Shut-up!" For the first time since she had met him, he was showing an emotion. It was odd to hear his voice twisted into a snarl.

The bandages covering her back and breasts came off and fell to the floor. Rukia would've covered herself, but she was busy using her arms to brace herself against the countertop. The demon wasn't particularly interested in her topless body, so she decided that her modesty was probably preserved.

"Ah!" Rukia gave a sharp gasp as an unexpected pain jolted from her already wounded back. Apparently the pale demon had widened the jagged half-forming wound across her back with his sharp nails. The blood was pouring down her back and staining the loose pants she was wearing. His fingers played across her back covering them both in her dripping, warm blood.

"That hurts", Rukia weakly protested as he continued to smear her blood across her back. She didn't expect him to stop and he fulfilled her expectations. Her head was starting to spin a little from the blood loss. It was surprising that the demon was going to kill her like this.

Startling, she felt something cold and wet trail along her back and wound. Looking behind herself, she saw his long tongue running along her spine. It should've been disgusting and horrifying, but Rukia could only watch in awe. The demon collected her blood with his tongue and drew into his mouth as if slowly tasting it.

"I can taste your blood", the demon's voice had become an inhuman sound that echoed terribly. "I can taste your pain, your anger, your sorrow."

Their eyes met for the briefest of moments before the demon bent his head down lapping at her back once again. This time Rukia accidently let out a low moan without knowing why.

"More." The demon hissed his demand and began to suck at her back for more blood.

"Stop", Rukia tried again, feebly, while stifling another moan. "Please. If you take anymore blood, I might die."

It hit her then that Helmet-head had been right, she didn't really want to die. The pale demon stopped and looked at her oddly, with yellowish pupils.

"But I want more", he said with the same even expression he always showed.

"If I die, you'll only have that amount of blood", Rukia tried reasoning with the half-stable demon. "If you let me live, you'll get lots more blood."

Suddenly the demon's pupils began to contract and expand again. Then Helmet-head gripped the wall to his right to support himself.

"Ugh", he groaned slightly and looked up at her. He was back to normal, or at least he wasn't trying to be a vampire anymore. This time she could see a slight anger and hatred in his eyes when he looked at her, not bloodlust.

The demon wiped her blood off his mouth with the back of his hand. "Leave."

Rukia couldn't hear the next sentence that came streaming from his mouth as she slowly felt a hazy fog creep over her vision. It was then that the blood loss caught up to her and she fainted clean away.

**

* * *

Thanks you for reading. Please review if you feel inclined.**


End file.

Bleach, Angst, Romance